Better time management is top 2011 resolution

Online survey finds that losing weight and quitting smoking did not even make it among the Top Five

By

Miranda Smith

PublishedWednesday, January 12, 2011

Getting organised and pulling oneself out of debt are among the most popular resolutions in the Arab world, according to a new survey by researchers Yahoo! Maktoob.

Interestingly, long-time pledges such as losing weight and quitting smoking did not even make it among the Top Five, with 2011 resolutions instead focusing on personal time management and the desire to have fun.

The online survey, which polled 2,900 people from across the region, saw being better organised as the top priority for 18 per cent of regional respondents, with saving more money and getting out of debt both garnering 10 per cent of the vote. Not forgetting to stay amused, nearly 15 per cent of voters said that they were going to try to enjoy life more as their New Year resolution, followed by a desire to learn something new with 11 per cent of the vote.

Quitting smoking and shedding kilos were the number one and two resolutions in other Yahoo!-sponsored polls in places like the United States, but placed lowly, in the 11th and seventh places respectively, among respondents to the pan-Arab survey.

While opinions are varied, one of the most surprising results was that the respondents’ answers were generally uniform across age groups, genders and countries. Of the results that did stick out, a notably higher percentage of those in Morocco and Egypt wanted to be better organised, with a larger proportion of respondents in Iraq and Libya not making any New Year resolution.

Below are the detailed results of the survey ranked in order of most popular:
• Get organized - 18%
• Enjoy life more - 15%
• Learn something new - 11%
• Save more money - 10%
• Get out of debt - 10%
• I do not have a resolution - 6%
• Help others - 5%
• Lose weight - 4%
• Spend more time with family & friends - 4%
• Other - 4%
• Travel more often - 3%
• Get into a habit of being fit - 3%
• Quit smoking - 2%